Flight of Angels
by Andie Firehawk
Summary: (FF original fic) Something me and a friend are writing- a world of 'angels' receives a mysterious visitor. Why is she here? What is going on?
1. Author's Note

Author's Note

Whoo! All right, I'm FINALLY starting to write again! 

Okay, I had to get that one over with! What we have here is basically a story that a friend and I are working on, based off of some characters she made up and some characters that I was already planning on putting into another story. (That one looks like it might never get written after all… blerfage. If I ever do, though, you might start seeing some correlation.) 

This one might be a little confusing at first, especially if you don't know what the hell a sk'kirrim is, but everything in its proper time. If you read the story, you'll understand eventually. They're just a race I made up- they look somewhat like blue polka-dotted Elves, but that is over-simplifying. They're actually much more complicated than that. Like I said… you'll see. 

I'm really taking a huge gamble by putting this thing up online! I hope you like it! Reviews, flames, offers to start fan clubs in my honor and constructive criticism are all welcome!

The obligatory DISCLAIMER: All Final Fantasy stuff is the property of Square, I'm not making any money off this story, blah, blah, blah… If you do the incredibly stupid thing of stealing this fic or any of the characters, I will be extremely annoyed and will be compelled to make like a Black Mage and zap you with Level 5 Death, Ultima and Nuke! And put you as one of the first people to eliminate when I achieve world domination… MUAHAHAH!!!

--Andie Firehawk, your… um… weird authoress!

Um… okay… why are you still reading this? Go read the damn story already!

Are you some kind of freakazoid?

You must be some kind of weirdo if you're STILL hanging around.

Are you stalking me?

I'll have to call the FBI on you if you don't leave now!

Go! GO AWAY!

Leave me alone in my padded room!

MUSES! SIC 'EM!

All your base are belong to us.

Bye-bye! Have a nice afterlife! ^_^

Cookies if you review!

Um… that's before you get to the Pearly Gates, that is!

Bye!

I said… GOODBYE!

Maybe this author's note should be its own fic.

Or maybe not. GO READ THE STORY!!!

Muses… MUSES! Stop eating the readers!


	2. Prologue A Stranger's Landing

Flight of Angels

__

Prologue

"You can't escape death, heretic!" the sk'kirrim warrior shouted angrily. "The Sky Lord's judgement shall rain upon you!" 

A flicker of maroon here, a flash of black there as the warrior's prey continued to elude him and the two Clerics following. If that one brat hadn't gotten away before, the job would have been a clean one… now it had to be finished. 

"You can join the rest of your family in their doom!"

The warrior smirked and drew closer, closer to where he knew the heretic had to be hiding. There weren't many places to hide in this keep… he would find the brat.

*****

The sk'kirrim prophetess Lucia watched everything, knowing that this time there was little she could do. That thought galled her, but she pushed that feeling out of her mind. All that she could do was to place it into the Sky Lord's hands and have faith that He would take care of everything.

*****

Something darted past the sk'kirrim warrior, and his hand reflexively shot out and latched onto an arm. With a deft motion he sent the other person reeling into a corner of the room, trapping them. He smiled in wolfish anticipation, his broadsword unsheathed and glittering lethally. The heretic cowered behind a curtain, attempting to hide, but the trap had been sprung.

"Ha!" the warrior snorted, still smirking. "There is no way out for you now, heretic. You will burn in eternal hellfire… and so will that conniving hellhound Lucia. Just another one of her worthless followers who needs to die."

The broadsword swung in a deadly arc, aiming to decapitate-

-But the heretic suddenly vanished. Gone. The smirk abruptly dropped off the warrior's face as he glanced wildly around, his mouth hanging open. "Wh-where'd she go?" he finally gasped incredulously, unable to locate his missing quarry.

"Perhaps it was a teleportation spell?" one of the Clerics suggested, and raised her eyebrow.

"No… no, she just… disappeared… she's gone!"

"Disappeared?" the other Cleric thundered. "But that's impossible! She was far too young to be any kind of wizard!"

The three utterly befuddled sk'kirrim stared mutely at each other for a moment before the female Cleric spoke again.

"We can't tell _anyone_ about this little fiasco," she warned. 

With that, the three heretic hunters left the keep. There would be no prize for them tonight. 

*****

The heretic sk'kirrim felt a sharp jolt and landed with a 'whump' in a small forest clearing, a forest unlike any she'd ever seen before. The very world itself felt alien to her- but her bewildered gaze immediately snapped to the strange, winged girl a few feet away from her. The other girl was sitting cross-legged on a tree root with her eyes closed as if she was meditating. Even as the heretic stared the winged girl seemed to detect her presence, and her hazel eyes snapped open to regard the sk'kirrim with what appeared to be wonderment. Incredibly, a small, timid smile appeared.

"You came…" 

*****

Needless to say, Lucia was just a little bit angry about what had but recently occurred. She had been half-tempted to drop a chunk of brimstone on the heads of those so-called 'heretic hunters', but that definitely wouldn't have done much besides anger whomever else was out there. Or, even worse, it could have killed innocents while she was at it. 

"Miyu!" she called, searching for the missing sk'kirrim girl. "Miyu, the hunters are gone! It's safe to come out of there now- it's just me, Lucia!" 

"An almost ghostly shape appeared behind Lucia and solidified into her ever-constant companion over the past two centuries. "Hey, you forgot about ole Cloud over here," he put in, his once-human features drawn into a fake pout.

"Oh, be quiet and help me look for Miyu," Lucia murmured, intent on her search. She wasn't in the mood for Cloud's jesting. "Meiyuda, this isn't funny anymore! You can stop hiding now- don't be such a child!"

"She's gotten herself into trouble, most likely," Cloud remarked.

"Again," Lucia grumbled and pulled on a silvering strand of blonde hair. 

"I daresay we've rubbed off on her," the Guardian said cheekily, grinning. The part of him that had once been a Thief was coming out, much to Lucia's irritation. 

Though normally unshakably calm, she was worried to death about Meiyuda- ever since the girl's parents had been killed several years ago for heresy, Lucia had been taking care of her and at least trying to keep her safe. Unfortunately, Miyu had an uncanny talent for getting into trouble and a huge stubborn streak reminiscent of someone else Lucia knew very well.

She wasn't dead, though, and she didn't seem to be hiding anywhere in this old keep…

"She just isn't here at all," Cloud concluded. "She's somewhere else entirely- maybe not even on this continent." The Guardian thought for a moment. "I know she's alive, though, and you do, too. It looks like this might be something to go see our old friend for. Maybe she can use one of those… whatsitcalled… one of those… scrying spells."

Lucia nodded. "We'll have to find the solution ourselves this time. I think the Sky Lord has left this one in our hands." A grim smile appeared on her elfin face. "Let's go find Firehawk."

As she said that a light breeze began to blow, ruffling her hair into a blonde halo.

*****

Miyu stared blankly at the strange girl for a moment, rubbing at her rather sore backside, and felt something almost… feathery. It wasn't really feathery, so much, but…

"Whoa…" she breathed. "I knew I had wings, but- not like this…"

It was then that Miyu noticed she had more than just the strange winged girl for company. There were two other winged females as well- besides the hazel-eyed girl with blonde hair and wings like a small forest bird, there was also a girl who seemed the living embodiment of fire, and another, silver-haired girl dressed completely in blue. With a shock, Miyu noticed that the latter had no pupils. The one with the fiery wings wore a rather sullen look, but what frightened Miyu even more was the way the silver-haired girl seemed to be staring right _through_ her with those pupil-less eyes.

To her, they all looked like angels- but not like any angels she'd ever heard of. As the four stood there a breeze began to pick up, playing with each girl's hair in turn and setting the silver-haired angel's icy wings to tinkling like wind chimes.

"Wh-where am I?" Miyu finally managed, after what seemed like an eternity.

The fiery-winged angel replied. "Welcome to Beirzie," she said somberly.

*****


	3. Beirzie

_Chapter 1- Beirzie_

Miyu just stood there for another brief moment, scarcely daring to breathe- she had barely escaped death mere minutes before and she wasn't about to let that particular miracle go to waste. Her situation didn't seem to have improved any, though. She'd never even heard of this 'Beirzie' but the natives didn't seem terribly friendly. She swore she could _feel_ the fire angel's gaze boring a hole through her.

"Y-you're all going to kill me, too, aren't you?" she jabbered in Skiriit, suddenly overcome with panic.

The ice angel's cloudy blue eyes widened and she stepped forward in an attempt to reassure Miyu, but the already frightened sk'kirrim took this as a sign of aggression.

Without thinking, Miyu fled.

*****

"Firehawk?" Lucia queried.

The snowy-haired old Red Wizard glanced up from the small pool of water at the sound of her old alias, smiling slightly. "I've been expecting you would show up," she replied, her voice strong and clear- not weak as might have been expected of a woman her age. Despite being well over two hundred years old, which was nearly unheard of for a human, her senses had hardly dimmed at all, and there was the same purposefulness to her movements that there always had been. 

Her dark amber eyes surveyed her visitors thoughtfully from behind a pair of oval spectacles. "I know that this is no pleasure visit, though," Firehawk said softly. "What brings you to visit an old battleaxe like me?"

"That you've stuck around for this long is quite an achievement," Cloud returned, deflecting the Red Wizard's question. Neither he nor Lucia wanted to discuss business quite yet.

Firehawk saw what Cloud was doing, but she humored him anyway. She smiled wryly. "I've outlived my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren and now I'm working on my great-great-grandchildren. I suppose losing one's close family is the cost of an unnaturally prolonged life." The old Mage frowned. "Most of them don't even know I'm still around…"

"You did stop being Arden after you stepped down from the throne of Delfia," said Lucia. 

"I thought my old alias was more appropriate," the Red Wizard replied, smiling enigmatically. Lucia was about to say something else, but Firehawk gave the sk'kirrim a severe look. "But enough waffling," she added sternly. "Why are you really here?"

*****

The three winged girls stared after the strange newcomer as she suddenly turned tail and ran, each of them wondering what had possessed her to do that. The hawk-winged girl wasn't long in figuring that one out, and she glared at the fire angel.

"Ooooh! Now you've done it, Miuki!" she burst out. "You've gone and scared her off with that stupid death glare of yours!"

The fire angel, Miuki, gave the speaker a haughty glower back. "What do ye mean, 'death glare'? All I did was look at her and the idiot ran off!" She snorted contemptuously. "Sheesh, Suki. Some higher power that was!"

Suki continued to glare. "But you _always_ manage to do that!"

The ice angel stared at Suki in surprise- usually the earth angel was much quieter. It wasn't typical for her to vent her anger. "Um, Miuki-"

"Oh, really?" Miuki interrupted. "Jest like ye always manage to attract the most useless bunch of morons I've ever seen accompany an earth angel?"

"Miuki… Suki…"

"It would help to not look like you want to strangle something, Miuki!" the earth angel retorted. "Try being a little friendlier!"

"Ahem… Fiery… Rockhead…" 

"Friendlier?" Miuki hissed, her wings ruffling. "That's just a little bit difficult!"

"Why, because you're a…"

"Are either of you even _listening_?!" the ice angel blurted out.

"What is it, Nuri?" Miuki muttered, and Suki became her usual quiet self.

Nuri smirked, now that she'd finally gotten the attention of the other two angels. "How about we actually go and _look _for her instead of standing here and arguing all year?"

Suki nodded agreement, but Miuki continued to glower. "Why should we waste our time looking for that nincompoop?" she grumbled. "If she gets herself into trouble it's her own bloody fault! I don't even know what in Hades she was."

"Chances are she's never even heard of Beirzie. She can't be blamed for that," Nuri said sensibly. "Someone needs to help her, and since we called her, that someone should be us."

Miuki considered this and reluctantly conceded. "Fine. We'll chase after the brat."

*****

Miyu sprinted as fast as she possibly could, becoming a black and maroon blur as she darted between trees and doubled back on her own tracks like a hunted rabbit. Her mind reeled with questions that she shoved aside in the interests of getting as far away from her starting point as possible. Fervently, she wished that Lucia were around- the prophetess would know what was going on, why she'd ended up here in a country she'd never heard of. Or would she?

"Yaaargh!" the young sk'kirrim hissed as she stumbled over a fallen branch and wrenched her ankle. She sat down heavily, her breath coming in ragged gasps, and nursed her sore ankle. That hadn't been very smart, letting her mind wander off like that.

Only then did she begin to question her own rationale. Just why in blue hell had she gone and done that? The 'angels' would find her anyway if they really wanted to- Miyu had very little aptitude for flying as of yet, especially in such dense forest.

She willed a little bit of healing into her ankle, and that helped somewhat. There was nothing she could do about her overall situation, though… she was still stuck here in Beirzie, which she was beginning to dislike more every second.

"I never thought I would miss Citthaskiir," she muttered to herself, remembering the ruined sk'kirrim capital. It had been a warren of corruption, at least, according to Lucia, and all those smug, self-righteous priests and Clerics had incurred the Sky Lord's wrath. The same priests and Clerics who had undoubtedly wanted Meiyuda and her family dead.

"Rotten bastards," Miyu gritted out, her anger rising. The wind suddenly picked up and tossed a few leaves about, seeming to swirl about the sk'kirrim girl.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to say at all, stranger," a voice drawled. "You'd best mind your manners."

Miyu's danger sense screamed a warning at her. "Who are you?" she demanded, leaping to her feet. She'd forgotten about her ankle entirely.

"Well, aren't you quite the curiosity?" the voice muttered speculatively. "You'll bring in a handsome price."

Miyu glanced wildly around and saw that she was suddenly outnumbered quite heavily- and everyone in the group carried some sort of weapon. She patted her side and found only her old dirk- just lovely. That wasn't going to work at all against so many people. This just wasn't her day at all.

*****

"Why are you here?" Firehawk asked again, her face giving no hint as to how she felt about her visitors. Cloud and Lucia were rarely good news, and all three of them knew it.

"We're looking for someone," Lucia finally answered, her mouth suddenly dry.

"Who?"

Lucia forced herself to say it. "It's—it's Meiyuda. She just—disappeared."

Firehawk smiled cynically. "Oh, you mean the little pain in the arse who's been tagging along behind you for the past several years?"

"Hey! She's not a—" Lucia started, then paused for a moment. "Well… actually, she kind of is…"

"Remind you of anyone?" Cloud commented, with a significant look at both Firehawk and Lucia.

"Well… some horrible combination of Lucia and me," said Firehawk. "It's good that you came here—we'd better find the little varlet before she gets into even more trouble than she's probably in already." 

"Do you think you can do it, though?" Cloud inquired.

The Wizard nodded. "I certainly can. Unfortunately, the spell will take a while to prepare, and it will probably be an imprecise location at best unless she happens to be in an area we know well. The actual scrying process itself will take even longer." She sighed and rubbed at her glasses with a corner of her robe. "Here. Give me a mental image of her and I will prepare the spell. I will need help from both of you to find her, though. God only knows where she could be."

"I thought you didn't believe in any kind of religion," Lucia commented.

"I don't," the Mage said flatly. "I've always hated religion. But your Sky Lord is not a religion, as I've come to realize. He is our god."

*****


End file.
